


gratitude

by excentricAnthropologist



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-18
Updated: 2014-01-18
Packaged: 2018-12-26 15:36:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12061944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/excentricAnthropologist/pseuds/excentricAnthropologist
Summary: Two survivors in a broken world.





	gratitude

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheInternationalAffair](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheInternationalAffair/gifts).



The sunrise illuminates the early morning mist as Ludwig and Lili make their way through the empty streets of what was once Berlin. The mist is as cold as it is beautiful, and it makes Ludwig’s lungs ache when he inhales. He turns to Lili and notices that she’s trembling, her lips blue with cold.

Ludwig pulls his coat from his shoulders and wraps it around Lili. He tries not to think about how thin she is, how he can feel her bones through the fabric, as delicate and fragile as a bird’s.

Lili looks up at Ludwig, green eyes wide as she tries to pull the coat from her shoulders. “No, Ludwig, you don’t have to do that, I’m fine…”

“Leave it,” Ludwig mumbles, putting his hands in his pockets. “I don’t need it; I’m used to the cold.”

Lili opens her mouth as if to say something, but stops, and pulls the coat more tightly around herself. “ _Danke, Ludwig_ ,” she says softly, and Ludwig nods in response.

They walk a little further in silence, Lili drowning in the too-large coat while Ludwig tries to ignore the way the morning air bites his skin.

Eventually Lili breaks the silence. “Ludwig?”

“Hm?” Ludwig hums, turning to look at Lili, and stops in his tracks, startled to see tears in her eyes. “Lili?”

Tears are running down Lili’s pale cheeks, and her thin frame shakes with silent sobs. Ludwig panics; he’s never seen Lili cry, not once since they’d met what seems like a lifetime ago. “Lili, what is it?”

Lili wipes her eyes, breath coming in short gasps. “I… I just…”

Ludwig hesitates, then reaches out to lay a hand on Lili’s shoulder. “It’s okay; just breathe.” He’s never been that good at the whole comforting thing, but he finds that the words come easily.

Lili takes a deep breath, and exhales slowly, her breath a cloud in the cold air. She opens her eyes, now red and swollen from crying, and places a cold hand on top of Ludwig’s.

“I just… I don’t know what I would do without you, Ludwig,” she says, staring up into Ludwig’s eyes. “If you hadn’t found me… I don’t know what would have happened to me.” Her eyes fill with tears again and her lip trembles. “I owe you my life, Ludwig.”

And suddenly her arms are around him, her hands fisting in his sweater while she buries her face in his chest and sobs.

Ludwig’s arms are around Lili almost instantly. He holds her tightly, pressing his lips to the crown of her head while tears of his own run down his tired face.

“It’s okay, Lili, it’s okay,” he murmurs, stroking her hair. “I promise, everything will be okay; no matter what happens, I will continue protecting you with my life.”

They stand there in the morning mist, two survivors in a broken world, and a single word is whispered over and over again, the sound dissipating into the emptiness around them: “ _Danke, danke, danke_ …”


End file.
